Something About Butterflies and Temporal Paradoxes
by nanjarohoihoi
Summary: Casey finds himself transported to a world where RJ is his only chance at getting home... if only RJ knew who he was.
1. PART I

**Something About Butterflies and Temporal Paradoxes**

**Part I**

Casey landed hard on his back. His head was pounding and he could hear ringing in his ears.

He sat up quickly. Fighting the dizziness that came with the movement, he was surprised to find himself in one of Ocean Bluff's central parks. He could've sworn that he was in the middle of a battle up until a moment ago. One of Dai Shi's monsters had hit him with an energy blast that had sent him flying into a cliff, but it was odd: instead of slamming into rock, he had landed in the park.

He realized with some surprise that his morph had disengaged and located his sunglasses lying in the grass about two feet away. He reached for them and then got to his feet. It was a warm summer day, which was also strange since it had been raining all week.

Eyeing two people walking in the distance, Casey put on his sunglasses. "RJ, come in," he called. When he got no response he tried, "Lily, come in. Are you there?" He attempted to contact Theo and Dominic, but met with the same lack of success. He worried about what was happening in the fight. He was tempted to morph and rush back to the quarry, but he also knew something wasn't quite right.

Casey rubbed his forehead. The ringing in his ears was beginning to subside, making him feel more alert. He forced himself to his feet and jogged towards Jungle Karma Pizza.

What he found, though, was a boarded up building. It was exactly where JKP should be and it looked like the right building, but in place of the door was a broken window with a large, flat piece of wood nailed across it.

Casey walked backwards to look up towards the loft from the edge of the sidewalk. The brick walls were covered in black dirt and grime, the windows were broken, and most disconcertingly, someone had posted a "For Sale" sign above the door.

His heartbeat racing, Casey stopped a passerby. "Excuse me," he asked, trying to keep the growing panic out of his voice. "What happened to the pizza parlor that was here?"

"Pizza parlor?" she asked.

"Jungle Karma Pizza," he clarified, pointing at the building. "It was here."

The women looked at him oddly. "You must be mistaken. No one's used this building since the fire eight years ago."

Taken aback, Casey muttered a "thank you" before walking off to check out the other shops on the street. Now that he looked, they weren't quite the same either. The boutique and convenience store were still there, but the boutique's display was completely different, and the sign on top of the convenience store at the corner was blue instead of yellow.

Casey froze. Something was very, very wrong.

He forced himself to stand perfectly still while he attempted to gain control of his racing thoughts, growing panic and increased heartbeat. Mediation was not something he was particularly good at, but at that moment, he needed calm. He closed his eyes and replayed everything that had just happened, from the monster attack to the absence of his home.

He had heard about rangers from other teams who had found themselves in situations similar to this one. It wasn't unheard of that a ranger ended up in some sort of alternate dimension after being blasted by a monster.

Had the energy blast sent him to an alternate dimension? However implausible that seemed on the surface, the explanation fit. Then again there was also the possibility that he was trapped in some sort of elaborate illusion. Neither possibility sat well with him.

Not sure what he should do next, Casey walked back to the park to look for clues. He examined the area where he found himself flat on his back, but there was nothing out of the ordinary there. He was about to head back towards JKP when he caught the flash of a familiar face out of the corner of his eye.

Instantly, Casey turned. "RJ?" he asked himself. Whoever it was, clad in a grey t-shirt and black sweatpants, was jogging away from him. Casey took off after him, and when the person he was tailing looked back to see who was coming up behind him, Casey made eye contact. "RJ!" he shouted, increasing his speed.

RJ stopped in his tracks. Casey caught up easily and ran in front of him. He placed his hands on RJ's upper arms. "RJ," he started, relieved. "It's so good to see you! Something happened-"

Casey cut himself off when he realized that RJ was scowling. On closer inspection, RJ's hair was shorter than he remembered it being and he looked... well, younger. Casey let go of him and took a step back. "RJ?" he asked uncertainly.

RJ's voice was low and angry when he spoke. "You can tell my father that I'm not coming back."

Casey frowned. "Why would I tell your father anything?"

"You work for him, don't you?" RJ accused, his tone making it clear that it wasn't a question. He gestured towards the symbol for the Order of the Claw on Casey's jacket. "Why else would someone from the Order seek me out?"

Casey had no idea how to respond to that, but he still had to try. "Look, RJ. I don't work for your father. My name is Casey, and you're..."

If the situation seemed ridiculous to him, it must have seemed twenty times more ridiculous to RJ who shot him a disbelieving look. RJ tried to jog past him, but Casey managed to block his path.

"Look," he tried again, "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm from another dimension where you're my master."

RJ crossed his arms, but humored him by listening. "Another dimension?"

"Yeah," Casey continued, silently pleading with RJ to know what he was talking about. "One where we're Power Rangers."

Something flashed in RJ's eyes, and he gave Casey a once over.

"What did you say your name was?" RJ asked. He gestured with his hands as he did, and the familiar body language made Casey feel a little better.

"Casey," he replied. "Casey Rhodes."

RJ seemed to consider this. Just as Casey was beginning to hope RJ knew who he was, RJ said, "Never heard of you. Now if you'll excuse me." He brushed past Casey and continued jogging down the path.

Casey growled in frustration, turned on his heel, and jogged after him. "You have to listen to me," he told RJ when he reached his side.

RJ sped up to get ahead of him. "No," he pointed out. "I don't."

Casey matched his new speed. He had jogged with RJ for months. He knew how to keep up. "Yes, you do. I'm trapped in an alternate dimension and you're the only person here I recognize."

RJ wasn't swayed by this logic. "Don't you have family or other friends you can bother?" he asked.

Casey's family lived in the suburbs of Stone Canyon, but he hadn't been home since he started his Pai Zhua training. As far as his family was concerned, he was still at the academy and would be for at least a year.

"That's beside the point," Casey pointed out. He followed RJ as he exited the park and turned onto a side road. "You need to help me. Or at least help me find Theo and Lily."

At the mention of the last two names, RJ shot him a sideways glance. He turned into an alley between two tall apartment buildings. Casey took in the area and asked, "Where are you going?"

RJ stopped in front of a back entrance to one of the buildings. "Go home, kid."

"I can't," Casey pointed out. He had no idea how to get back to his dimension, and much to his dismay, he realized that he had no idea where to go in this world.

RJ was frowning at him, but then he noticed something behind Casey and brightened visibly. Casey turned to see an old chair in a trash pile. Its yellow stuffing was coming out at its seams and its blue upholstery had seen better days. Forgetting Casey, RJ flounced past him towards the chair, circling it admiringly.

Casey sighed. The chair his RJ had was much nicer than this one. "RJ-" he started, but RJ cut him off.

"Look, Casey," he said, using his name for the first time. He looked up and simultaneously pointed towards the top of the building . "Help me get this chair up there."

Casey blinked at him. Though he thought it was crazy, he would help RJ with the mess of a chair. It wasn't simply that he needed RJ's help. Casey recognized that RJ often asked him to do crazy things, and that RJ usually had good reasons for asking what he asked.

Casey replied, "Fine, but you better help me if I do." He walked over to RJ who was beaming at the chair.

RJ bent down to grab one end of it, and then gestured for Casey to do the same with the other end. The two of them lifted it easily, albeit a tad awkwardly, and RJ guided them towards the back door to the apartment building. He stopped and they put down the chair in front of the door as RJ rummaged through his pockets for his keys.

Casey wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the building. "You live here?" he asked.

RJ nodded as he held the door open with his back and motioned for Casey to grab the other end of the chair again.

It was a little tricky maneuvering the chair through the hallways, but somehow they managed to get it into the elevator. RJ hit the button for the eighth floor, and Casey spent the ascent studying RJ's profile. The shape of his eyes, the slope of his jaw - he was so much like his RJ that Casey found it jarring.

The elevator doors opened, and Casey helped RJ carry the chair to apartment #812. Once they set the chair down inside, Casey stood up, stretched, and looked around the apartment. It was practically empty. There were some pots and pans drying on a rack in the kitchen and a handful of boxes stood in the corner covered in newspapers. On the far wall a white curtain was pulled to one side of a rather large window.

Casey looked through a doorway to what was presumably RJ's room. Inside he noticed a futon, a nightstand, a bookshelf, and what looked like a desk covered in papers and gadgets. He stepped into the room, and upon closer inspection, the desk looked a lot like the one his RJ currently owned. A piece of paper half-covered by a book had something red drawn on it, but when he made to reach for it, RJ's hand was on his wrist in an instant.

"Thank you for your help," RJ said tightly. He gestured towards the front door, which was wide open. "You can leave now."

Casey twisted his wrist, freeing himself from RJ's grip, and frowned. "You said you would help me."

RJ laughed softy. "No, no, amigo," he pointed out, waving his hands in the air. "You assumed I'd help you."

Casey crossed his arms stubbornly. "You know, in my world, you're a lot nicer."

Casey heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway, and both of them turned towards the door just as a young man popped his head in through the doorframe. "Yo, RJ," he called. In one breath, he said, "Do you still want our old TV? 'cause Milly wants me to get rid of it this afternoon, so if you want it, you're gonna have to come get it now."

He noticed Casey, waved at him, and ducked back out into the hall.

"I'll be there in a sec," RJ called after him, motioning Casey toward the door.

Casey offered RJ his most stubborn expression. "The second I leave, you're going to lock the door," he guessed. He sat crossed legged on the floor, and smirked up at RJ. "I'll just wait here."

RJ sighed. He turned and glared at Casey. "Don't touch anything," he ordered, and Casey raised his hands in surrender. Casey smiled to himself. He was pretty sure that this counted as a victory, since he was certain that RJ could easily kick him out if he really wanted to.

RJ left and returned a minute later carrying a bulky old television set, which he put it down in front of the chair they'd just brought up.

Casey watched him curiously. "When did you get this place?" he asked.

RJ's attention was focused on the television when he replied, "Six months ago. But my father probably already told you that."

Casey knew of RJ's rocky relationship with his father, but that had nothing to do with Casey's current situation. He groaned. "I don't work for your father."

RJ said nothing, so Casey continued, "I know it sounds crazy, but I really am from another world where you are my master." He thought about what else he could say to convince him. "Your spirit animal is the wolf and-"

Before he could finish, RJ grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up onto his feet. RJ shoved him against the wall and pinned his body with his own. Casey's back immediately ached from where it made contact with the plaster. RJ pressed an elbow threateningly against Casey's neck and asked, "How did you know that?"

Casey was shocked and more than a little confused by RJ's reaction. RJ was livid. "Know what?" he asked.

"That my spirit animal is the wolf. How did you know that?"

"You're my master," he answered truthfully. "Of course I know that."

RJ studied him carefully. Apparently finding something in his expression, RJ released him and took a step back. Casey's hands immediately went to massage his neck. "What was that for?" he demanded.

Instead of answering, RJ dropped to his knees in front of him. He placed his palm on Casey's thigh, and when Casey tensed, RJ raised his palm up Casey's pant leg towards his waist.

Casey didn't move. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking down. It was then that Casey noticed what held RJ's attention. With his thumb and forefinger, RJ plucked Casey's sunglasses from his pocket. Then he stood and held the solar morpher in the air between them. He looked at Casey in shock, but unlike earlier, his expression was anything but angry.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, his voice filled with wonder and genuine curiosity.

Casey met RJ's gaze. "You gave it to me."

RJ looked Casey over again. He folded the sunglasses into his own collar, which made Casey uneasy until RJ said, "Huh. Maybe you are who you say you are." RJ walked towards the chair, but stopped short and turned towards Casey. "You have the tiger spirit, don't you?"

Casey released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding "Yes," he said, relieved.

RJ nodded to himself, mulling over this information. Then he walked over to the kitchen, and retrieving two chairs, he offered one to Casey. "So what are you doing here?"

Casey accepted the chair with a small smile, and waited until RJ was seated across from him before answering honestly. "I don't know. I was fighting a monster with the other rangers and the next thing I knew I was in the park."

"When you say 'rangers', you mean 'Power Rangers', don't you?" Before Casey could answer, RJ lifted the solar morpher from his collar. "This is your morpher," he said as if he was putting the pieces together.

Casey nodded. "You made it."

RJ looked at him, then laughed and leaned back in his chair. "You sure are interesting." He tossed the sunglasses at Casey. Casey caught them easily and as he returned them to his pocket, RJ prompted, "Can you tell me anything about the monster?"

Casey shrugged. "It was one of Dai Shi's rinshi goons. I think it was a mantis."

RJ went still. "Dai Shi..." he repeated thoughtfully. "Did the monster do anything strange during the fight?"

As far as Casey was concerned, monsters always did something strange during their fights. "It blasted me with an energy beam that transported me here," he replied. A thought from earlier resurfaced and he shifted uncomfortably. "Unless this is all an illusion."

RJ raised an eyebrow at that. "If this is an illusion, I can't help you," he pointed out.

Casey shot him a helpless look, and RJ laughed. The way RJ's lips quirked put Casey at ease.

"Have you ever heard of Zhuangzi?" he asked.

Casey shook his head. "Zhuangzi?"

RJ waved his hands in the air as if they were wings. "'Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly,'" he recited. "'He was a fluttering butterfly, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He did not know he was Zhuangzi.'"

Casey had no idea where RJ was going with this. He was about to ask, when RJ clapped once and continued. "'Suddenly he woke up and found himself to be Zhuangzi. He did not know whether he was Zhuangzi who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly who had dreamed he was Zhuangzi.'"

The story was disconcerting, but the way RJ said it, complete with hand gestures was comfortingly familiar. It even sounded like a random RJ story.

"What's your point?" Casey asked when it never came.

RJ shrugged. "I don't think I'm a product of your overactive imagination, but you never know."

Casey snorted. "That wasn't helpful."

"Maybe not," RJ agreed, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully. "Tell me more about myself in your world."

Casey didn't know where to begin. "Uh. You're a Pai Zhua master-"

RJ cut him off. "I'm that in this world too." He smiled.

Casey shook his head in amusement and continued. "You train Lily, Theo and I, and you run a pizza parlor. You're the Wolf Ranger, though you and your animal spirit have had some issues in the past. You're an amazing fighter and a good friend." RJ was giving him an unreadable look, so he plowed on about the first thing that came to mind. "Last time I talked to you was this morning when you were going on and on about some old friend coming to visit. You wouldn't tell me who it was, only that they were arriving on the 16th at 9:23pm."

RJ laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Why 9:23pm?"

Cased raised an eyebrow of his own. "How should I know? He's your alternative self!"

RJ shrugged, clearly amused. "Good point."

When they lapsed into silence, Casey found himself studying the boxes in the corner. A pile of newspapers on one of the boxes was threatening to fall over, but it was what was on the front page of the paper at the very top of the pile that caught his attention.

Slowly, he stood and walked over to it. Leaning over, he picked it up and studied the headline carefully. His eyes darted to the date in the corner. He felt a chill run down his spine.

"RJ," he asked slowly, "how old are these newspapers?"

"Maybe a week old. Why?"

Slowly, Casey turned to face him, newspaper in hand. Something akin to fear was building in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. "The Memorial Bridge on the front page. According to this, it just opened."

RJ furrowed his eyebrows. "It did. Why?" Casey handed RJ the newspaper. RJ accepted it and looked up at Casey expectantly.

Taking a deep breath, Casey explained, "I went to the opening celebration with my sister when I was thirteen." Casey looked out the window. "I'm eighteen."

He took in the skyline for a long moment. The city was backlit against the setting sun. He could see lights twinkling in distant windows, and when he finally looked back at RJ, the expression of worry that filtered across RJ's face told Casey that he had already figured it out.

"This isn't an alternate dimension," Casey continued anyway. "This is the past."


	2. PART II

**Something About Butterflies and Temporal Paradoxes**

**Part II**

Casey sat down in his chair and held his head in his hands as he tried to process what was happening. Time travel was not one of the possibilities he had initially considered, but the more he thought about it, the more it fit. JKP wasn't there when he went to find it because it didn't exist yet. RJ looked younger because he was younger.

Casey thought of Theo, Lily, Dominic and RJ fighting the mantis monster without him. He pictured Fran waiting for them to return, her eyes darting to the door despite her efforts to hide how worried she was. Suddenly he felt miserable. "I need to get back," he said, his voice hoarse. When he exhaled, his breathing was uneven.

"I'll help," RJ offered. His voice sounded close, and Casey realized that he was kneeling in front of him. "I was planning to visit a friend tomorrow. She might be able to give us some clues."

Then RJ was gently prying Casey's hands away from his face and replacing them with his own. "Breathe, Casey," he said and his voice was calm and reassuring. "Freaking out will do you no good."

Casey nodded glumly, but when he refused to make eye contact, RJ forced him to by tilting his chin upwards. "We'll figure this out. Now get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and this won't be as overwhelming in the morning."

RJ released him and walked to the closet next to the bathroom. He stood on his tip toes to reach something on the top shelf, and when it practically fell on him, Casey realized it was a futon. He hurried to RJ's side to give him a hand.

RJ piled the futon into Casey's arms, and then rummaged around the closet for linens. He added the sheets to Casey's load, then cleared the kitchen chairs from the living room and pushed what little else was in the room out of the way so the futon could be laid out on the floor.

Casey helped RJ set it up in silence, and he found himself watching RJ as he flattened the sheets with practiced ease. RJ caught him staring, and Casey fidgeted uncomfortably. RJ laughed and walked into his room, returning a moment later with a zebra-print pillow. He tossed it at Casey. "You really are an interesting guy," he said, smiling.

Casey had no idea what to make of that, so he hugged the pillow to his chest and told RJ, "Thank you." He was grateful that RJ was wiling to help him and was letting him stay the night, but he was even more thankful that that he had found RJ in the first place.

To Casey's surprise, RJ walked over to him and ran a hand through his hair. "Goodnight, Casey," he said with a lopsided grin. "If you need anything, I'm only a knock away." With a yawn, he turned towards his room and shut his door behind him.

Casey had trouble falling asleep. He couldn't seem to stop worrying about his friends, and he felt sick with dread when he considered the possibility that he might not be able to return to them.

Even though he knew that the RJ sleeping in the next room was five years younger than the one he knew, he was very much the RJ Casey knew and Casey found that strangely comforting. There was something less mature and less confident about him, but at the same time, Casey was thankful that RJ was like a universal constant of some sort: RJ could never be anyone other than RJ.

In the morning, Casey woke up feeling like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. He had no memory of falling asleep, but he must have because the room was bright with sunlight. He had forgotten to close the curtain. He eyed the old chair and television at the other side of the room and groaned. He was still trapped in the past.

Casey pulled himself to his feet, and splashed water on his face in the bathroom. He wanted to take a shower, but he didn't have a towel or fresh clothing to change into. RJ's door was ajar, and when Casey looked inside, a RJ-shaped mound on the futon told him that RJ was still asleep.

Casey's stomach growled and he realized that he hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. Yawning, he made his way to the kitchen and when he opened RJ's fridge, he was pleasantly surprised to find it fully stocked. Months of working at JKP had him automatically taking an inventory of pizza ingredients, and he was equally astonished to find that despite not yet owning a pizza parlour RJ had them all. Amused, Casey opened some of the cupboards and located other key ingredients

His gaze flickering to RJ's door, Casey had an idea. Pizza wasn't necessarily a breakfast food, but he knew RJ would eat it regardless. He pulled out the ingredients he needed, and set to work preparing the dough and slicing toppings. He made a lot of noise in the process, but knowing that RJ was a heavy sleeper, he wasn't worried.

RJ's oven wasn't the wood-burning one he'd become accustomed to using at JKP, but he made do. Setting the timer for twenty minutes, he went about cleaning up the kitchen. When he finished, he folded the futon and the accompanying linens and placed them in a neat pile on the floor. With them out of the way, he had just enough room to practice some of his katas. Easing himself into a back stance, he went through a basic one to warm up.

He caught the timer when it had only ten seconds remaining and turned it off, extracting the pizza and placing it on the counter to cool. Then he went back to his warm-up.

He heard movement inside RJ's room. A moment later, RJ emerged wearing only a pair of boxers. He squinted at Casey. "I guess you weren't a dream," he said, more to himself than to Casey, before stumbling towards the bathroom.

Casey heard the shower turn on, and returned his full concentration to his kata. He switched to one at the intermediate level. By now, the movements were second nature to him, and he attacked an imaginary opponent with practiced ease. He lost himself in the actions, so he was startled when he realized that RJ was leaning against the bathroom doorframe watching him, naked except for the towel around his waist.

More startling was the fact that RJ had shaved. Casey couldn't recall a time when he has ever seen RJ clean-shaven. Casey fumbled the next move of his kata. Inexplicably, the back of his neck felt warm.

"You shaved," he blurted in response to RJ's raised eyebrow and straight away he knew it was a silly thing to focus on.

RJ rubbed his own chin. "I take it that's weird for me?"

Casey felt uncomfortable. "A little," he admitted. Without any facial hair, RJ looked younger than Casey had ever seen him. In fact, he looked no older than Casey. It was eerie.

RJ sniffed the air and he followed the smell of food to its source. He examined the pizza on the counter. "You cook?" he asked.

"Yeah," Casey replied, grabbing the cutter to cut the pizza into eight equal slices. He handed one to RJ and then took one for himself. "You taught me."

"Your kata just now," RJ said around a mouthful of pizza. "I taught you that too, didn't I?"

Casey nodded as he munched on his own slice.

"I came up with that kata less than a month ago," RJ explained as he took another bite. "Also, your cooking passes inspection." He closed his eyes while he chewed. He looked like he was in heaven. "I think I'll keep you."

Casey flushed and was grateful RJ still had his eyes closed. "Yeah, well, like I said, you taught me the recipe."

"I haven't tasted pizza like this in years. Did you add oregano?"

Casey shrugged casually. "When I started working at your pizza parlor, you taught me to add it to the sauce."

RJ opened his eyes and looked thoughtfully at Casey for a moment. "I don't know how much more about the future you should tell me. You've probably told me too much already."

Casey frowned and stared at the counter. RJ waved his half-eaten pizza slice in the air as if to regain his attention. "Haven't you ever heard of the 'temporal prime directive'?"

"No?" Casey ventured, hoping it wasn't one of those things Theo had tried to explain to him.

RJ looked horrified. "You've never seen Star Trek?"

That was not the answer Casey had been expecting, and it took him a moment to realize RJ was joking.

"Fine, fine," RJ said, still swinging around the pizza slice. "How about 'the butterfly effect'?"

"Never heard of it," Casey admitted, though he warily remembered the last butterfly-related story RJ had told him.

RJ finished his pizza and held up the index fingers of both of his hands. "The idea is simple. If you go back in time, anything you do could have drastic effects on the future. Even if something as small as the movement of a butterfly's wings is changed in the past, the entire future could be altered."

Casey didn't like the sound of that. "Are you saying I've already changed the future?"

"Probably," RJ replied with a grimace.

Casey rubbed his forehead. It was a lot to take in. "Should I stay away from you? I mean, shouldn't I avoid everyone and everything?" He could hear panic starting to build in his voice.

"Casey," RJ said, his tone soothing and calm. "How would avoiding everyone and everything help your chances of getting back? Who knows? That kind of strategy might end up causing more damage." RJ placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'll find a way to get you home," he promised.

Casey turned to him in surprise and RJ smiled, his face surprisingly close. He could feel RJ's breath on his cheek, and turned away flustered.

If RJ noticed, he didn't say anything. Instead he picked up another slice of pizza and said thoughtfully, "The future has already changed just by you being here. We should be aware of that fact, but we shouldn't allow it to... paralyze us." He took a bite and hummed happily to himself. "This is so good."

Casey didn't know how to think about time travel, let alone address its issues, so he focused on what he could make sense of. "I'm glad you like it. I don't exactly cook for you often." Well, technically he did by working at JKP, and he had made dinner before, but he had never cooked for RJ specifically.

RJ looked at him in horror. "Please tell me you cook in the future."

The comment combined with the expression that came with it made Casey laugh, and he felt some of his tension leave his shoulders. "I do, but not exactly like this." When RJ raised an eyebrow, Casey elaborated, "You're not exactly a morning person."

RJ agreed with this statement, but he surprised Casey with one of his own. "You're not a morning person either, are you?"

Casey shook his head. "Not really," he admitted.

RJ finished his second slice of pizza, wiped his hands on the towel around his waist, and then walked towards the linen closet. As Casey finished a second slice of his own, RJ returned and told him, "I put some towels in the bathroom for you, in case you want to take a shower."

"Thanks," Casey said and RJ retreated to his room, presumably to get dressed.

After Casey put the uneaten pizza away, he took RJ up on his offer of a shower. He was uncomfortable with the thought of changing back into his training uniform, and to his surprise, he found a change of clothing folded in a pile on the counter next to the towels. As well, RJ had left him a spare toothbrush. The gesture made Casey smile.

When Casey emerged from the bathroom, wearing a pair of RJ's jeans and a crimson t-shirt, RJ was fully dressed and collecting papers from his desk. He placed a stack of them into a dark brown folder, which he closed and secured with a piece of beige cording. He looked up at Casey. "Ready to go?" he asked.

Casey nodded. RJ had said that his friend might be able to help him. He wanted to meet this person as soon as possible.

RJ packed the folder into a backpack along with some water and what looked to be sandwiches. Casey noted that they probably had a lot of walking ahead of them.

RJ led Casey to a forested area that Casey often trained at with the other rangers. It was also an area through which he and RJ jogged regularly.

"Where are we going?" he asked, finally.

"A friend's place," RJ reminded him.

Casey rolled his eyes. "Where is your friend's place located?"

RJ laughed. "The other side of this forest. It's a good two hour walk."

RJ was one of the few people Casey could share comfortable silences with, so when they lapsed into silence, he didn't try to break it. After a time, it was RJ who spoke first. "Why did you join the academy?" he asked.

"I wanted something to do," he answered, without having to think about it. "I had just finished high school and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. I heard about the academy from a family friend and she took me to meet Master Mao."

RJ considered this. "That means you're a relatively new student."

"Yeah. I was only at the academy for a couple of weeks before Dai Shi escaped." At the mention of Dai Shi, RJ's expression turned unreadable. Casey realized that RJ didn't know that Dai Shi would escape, and then remembered that he had mentioned something about Dai Shi to RJ the day before.

"You became a ranger quickly," RJ pointed out.

Casey felt uncomfortable. "I thought you didn't want to hear about the future. What about the butterflies?"

RJ eyed Casey and smiled. "I'm starting to think you're supposed to be here," he admitted.

Casey stopped in his tracks. "What?"

RJ turned to face him. He dropped his backpack to the ground, and pulled out the dark brown folder.

"Where are your sunglasses?" RJ asked.

Casey reached into his pocket and produced his morpher as RJ untied the cording around the folder. RJ pulled out a sheet of paper and showed it to Casey. On it was a sketch of the sunglasses, colored in what looked to be red pencil crayon. Along the side of the page was RJ's messy scrawl and what looked like mathematical equations.

"I changed the design last night," RJ admitted. "Not a lot, but after I saw yours yesterday, I noticed a flaw in the lens design that had to be addressed."

Casey blinked back his shock. "What are you saying?"

RJ returned the blueprint to the folder. "I'm saying that if I didn't meet you, your morpher probably wouldn't look like the one you own."

Casey thought about this while RJ put his backpack back on. It didn't make sense. "You mean-" Casey searched for words. "I was supposed to travel back in time?"

"Something like that," RJ agreed, resuming their hike.

It was Casey who broke the silence the second time. "What about you?" he wanted to know. "I know you got into Pai Zhua because of your father, but how did you become a master?" Only after the words left his mouth did Casey notice that he had mentioned RJ's father, and while that would have been fine in his time, this RJ probably wouldn't appreciate it.

RJ was silent for a moment. "What do you know about my father?" he asked, his tone guarded.

Casey shifted awkwardly, trying to think of a way of saying what he wanted to say without giving too much away. "He's a master of the shark technique. The two of you had a falling out seven years ago." Casey paused. "Uh, two years ago."

RJ shook his head, in what seemed to be the combination of surprise and amusement. "A year and a half ago," he corrected. "You know why we fought?"

Casey nodded. "He was forcing you to learn the shark technique even though both of you knew it wasn't the technique for you."

RJ was staring at him, so Casey asked, "What?"

RJ furrowed his eyebrows. "I talked to you about my father," he said in amazement. "We must be close."

"We are," Casey confirmed, and offered RJ a small smile.

RJ's expression softened. "I became a master after I discovered the wolf spirit was within me. I developed my own wolf style based on Pai Zhua tradition, what I learned from the masters, and something that came entirely from the combination of myself and the wolf."

Casey recalled that RJ had moved into his apartment six months ago. That meant he had to have spent at least a full year after his fallout with his father training.

"I wasn't trying to become a master," RJ continued. "When I returned to the academy to visit Master Mao, he awarded me the title at the same time he assigned to me an important mission." RJ's gaze flicked towards Casey briefly, and Casey recognized what mission RJ was talking about.

On his death bed, Master Mao had handed them RJ's address and ordered them to find their new master. Casey hated to admit it to himself, but he had never considered that Master Mao and RJ had to have set that contingency plan in motion well in advance, nor had he ever considered how much work and planning would have been required from RJ. Now, Casey realized, he was learning what work was done first hand.

RJ led them through a clearing into a street of shops. The transition between the dirt path in the forest and the paved road before them was so abrupt that Casey felt like he had missed something.

The street they were on looked average, and behind it he could see a city stretching out into the distance. He tried to figure out exactly where they were and failed. Idly, he caught himself wondering if they could have taken the bus.

RJ turned into an alley between an old flower shop and a newly renovated restaurant. RJ stopped in front of a dark green door. "We're here," he announced, swinging the door open and ducking inside. Casey followed, and as he shut the door behind him, he noticed the bell at the top of it, alerting whoever was in the shop of their presence.

The next thing Casey noticed was the sound of ticking. The ticking sounds overlapped and Casey realized they were in what looked to be a clock shop. From the floor to the ceiling, the old wooden furniture and displays were covered with time pieces.

He followed RJ to the back of the shop where a woman was working at a desk littered with gadgets. She looked up at them as they approached. If he had to, Casey would guess her to be their age, but something in her eyes made Casey think she was older.

"Hello, Robert," she said, expression unreadable, and Casey automatically looked to RJ. He had never heard anyone call him Robert before.

RJ sighed. "Please," he said, as if he had told her the same thing a hundred times before. "Call me RJ." She rolled her eyes.

RJ shrugged off the backpack and produced the brown folder. He handed it to her wordlessly.

"Are these the final blueprints?" she asked, pulling out the papers. As she examined them, Casey noticed that RJ hadn't introduced her, and that she hadn't offered her name either. "You've changed the design," she noted.

She flipped through more of the blueprints, stopping at one in particular. "It says here that you would like the red morpher to be calibrated for the tiger." For the first time, she eyed Casey. "The last time we spoke, you requested red be attuned to the lion."

RJ smiled. "I have reason to believe it will be the tiger."

She nodded, and resumed her examination of his blueprints. "These are blueprints for two extra morphers. That makes five connections to the morphing grid. You're going to have a full team."

"Hopefully," RJ told her, "we'll never need it."

She held up a blueprint. On it was a sketch of RJ's morpher. Unimpressed, she stated, "This one uses the wolf spirit."

"It does," RJ agreed.

"To use a morpher of this variety," she reminded him, "the user has to be one with their animal spirit."

RJ glared at her, and she met his glare with one of her own. "The wolf is stable for now, but your bond will be tested in the future. Don't use this morpher until that bond is mended."

When she turned her attention back the blueprints, RJ frowned. He simultaneously looked annoyed, worried and puzzled as he considered her warning.

Casey, on the other hand, knew exactly what she was talking about. Five years from now, Dai Shi would attack RJ. His connection to his animal spirit would be disrupted and he would begin to turn into the wolf.

He had wondered why RJ hadn't become a ranger sooner. Now he knew the answer.

"When can you have them ready?" RJ asked her.

"I can't make connections to the morphing grid myself," she replied. "I will have to rely on a friend of a friend." She shot RJ a knowing look, suggesting to Casey that RJ knew exactly who she was talking about. "It will take some time."

"Okay," RJ said, settling the matter. "Let's do it."

She nodded and returned the blueprints back to the folder. She then laid the folder carefully on a shelf above her desk.

"There's one other matter," RJ told her. He placed his hand on Casey's shoulder. Casey was so wrapped up in being part of his own history that he had almost forgotten the other reason they were there.

"My friend here is from the future," RJ explained, and Casey was surprised by his bluntness. Though if RJ could trust this person with creating their morphers, then he supposed it made sense he could trust her with this.

She raised an eyebrow at Casey, but her expression remained unreadable.

"He arrived yesterday. We think he was brought here by a blast from a monster, and we need a way to send him back to his own time."

She sighed and stood up from her chair. "Please wait a moment," she told them and walked into a back room.

Once she was gone, Casey asked, "How do you know each other?" RJ trusted her, and Casey wanted to know why.

RJ laughed. "Believe it or not, we went to school together. She's an old friend."

Besides Dominic, Casey realized he didn't know any of RJ's old friends. Was she the old friend RJ was talking about the day before?

The woman returned a moment later with a wooden case. She set it down on the counter next to them and opened it to reveal some sort of device. Casey couldn't make heads or tails of it. It looked like it was the end result of a fight between a kerosene lamp and a hard drive.

"It can sense temporal anomalies," she explained, lifting the device and offering it to RJ. She pointed at a small readout. "You'll have to calibrate it, but if an anomaly exists, it will locate a time portal that will take your friend home."

RJ fiddled with a metal panel on the side of the device as if checking something, and then placed the device back into the case. He shut it and handed it to Casey.

"Thank you," he told her. "I appreciate your help."

"Just bring it back," she replied, turning her back to them to sit down at her desk and resume her work.

RJ picked up his backpack, and Casey followed him out the door and back to the road.

When they entered the forest, Casey asked, somewhat redundantly, "Are we heading back?"

"Yep," RJ replied. He gestured towards the case in Casey's hand. "I'll need to get this working as soon as I can. There's a chance the anomaly we're looking for is a one-time event," RJ explained. "If we don't locate it before it appears, you might be trapped here."

Casey grimaced. Nothing made him more uncomfortable than the idea of having no options.

As if recognizing his discomfort, RJ stopped by the edge of a meadow and dropped his backpack onto the grass. He spun around as he said, "This looks like a good place for a picnic, don't you think?"

When RJ sat down, Casey followed, placing the wooden case at his side. RJ handed him a plastic tupperware before taking one for himself. "Lunch today is cream cheese bagels," he said, sounding like he did when he was waiting tables at JKP. "Just in case you were wondering, the cream cheese is made out of tofu."

Casey examined his bagel and bit into it. Across from him, RJ did the same, smiling as he ate. He looked like a kid, and it made Casey pause. He was staring at RJ and both of them knew it. RJ smiled at him and Casey looked away, embarrassed.

After lunch, RJ packed up everything and they continued their trek. They spent the majority of their two hour walk in silence and Casey honestly enjoyed every minute of it. He was surprised at how fast the time went by.

They returned to RJ's apartment, and the second Casey put the wooden case down on the counter, RJ picked it up and took it to his room.

"Can I help?" Casey asked.

"How much do you know about temporal anomalies?" He could hear RJ going through the stuff on his desk.

"Only what I've learned in the past twenty-four hours," Casey admitted. He spotted the television and remembered RJ fiddling with it the day before. "Does your TV work?"

RJ emerged from his room. "I'm going to use it to build a surveillance system, but I'll need more televisions first. If you want, you can help me go TV hunting tomorrow."

"Sure," he agreed. He wasn't about to object to spending more time with RJ.

RJ went back into his room only to reappear a moment later with a screwdriver in hand. He held it out to Casey. "If you want to help, you can fix my chair."

As Casey took the screwdriver, he was filled with a sense of déjà vu. Fixing a chair was one of the first things RJ had ever asked him to do.

RJ returned to work on the device while Casey began taking the chair apart. Its blue exterior had thrown him off, but he recognized its interior and laughed at himself for not making the connection. With some work, the chair would become RJ's most sacred possession.

RJ's poked his head out of his doorway. "What's so funny?" he asked.

Casey shook his head at the memory. "You're not going to believe this, but I've fixed this chair, uh, in the future."

RJ raised an eyebrow, and Casey noticed that he was wearing a pair of goggles with a bunch of different lenses attached. If he hadn't seen RJ wear them before, he probably would've found them strange.

"We were sparring," Casey explained. "You tossed me across the room and I landed hard in this chair. It broke so you told me to fix it."

At the time, he had been furious at RJ, but thinking about it now, it was funny.

RJ rubbed his hands together. "Not only do you cook, but you're handy too. You keep getting better and better."

Casey cheeks felt hot. He knew was blushing, so he was relieved when RJ went back to work in his room. He took a deep breath to clear his mind, before turning his attention back to the chair. He spotted a problem with the springs and began contemplating a way to fix it.

It wasn't long before his stomach growled. "Hey, RJ," he called. "How's leftover pizza for dinner sound?"

"Sounds great," RJ replied through the open door.

Casey heated the leftover pizza from breakfast in the oven. He found two plates in a cabinet and handed one to RJ when he emerged from his room. They ate dinner at the kitchen table, and Casey watched RJ eat. RJ seemed to savor the pizza just as much the second time around, and Casey was struck by the desire to cook for RJ more often.

When the meal was finished, RJ told him, "I'm almost done the re-calibration, but we'll need to go back to the place you originally arrived. You said it was in the park?"

Casey nodded. "Yeah. I can take you there."

Within twenty minutes they were walking side by side under the setting sun. RJ carried the wooden case in one hand, and every so often, his arm brushed against Casey's.

Casey led RJ to the south-end of the park where he crash-landed the day before. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the spot, but RJ examined it with great curiosity. Then he opened the case, extracted the device, and began poking around at its side.

RJ frowned at the readout, filling Casey with a sense of apprehension. "What's wrong?" he asked automatically.

"I can get it to tell me a general date," RJ replied. "But not a specific time."

"What's the date?" Casey asked.

RJ frown deepened. "Sometime tomorrow."

"You mean, sometime tomorrow a time portal is going to open here?" Casey saw the problem. If it opened and he missed it, he'd be stuck.

"Tomorrow is the 16th," RJ said, looking Casey in the eye. Casey didn't follow, and after a moment, RJ elaborated, "Yesterday you told me that the RJ of your time was expecting someone on the 16th."

Casey's eyes went wide as he made the connection.

RJ continued, "This device can't pinpoint a time, but we already know it. You said it yourself: 9:23pm."

RJ looked as surprised as Casey felt. The idea that RJ would know this would happen was certainly shocking, especially since-

Was he the old friend RJ was waiting for?

No, it couldn't be. The thought was ridiculous. Yet...

RJ snapped him out of his thoughts by placing a hand on his shoulder. The device was already back in its case. "Come on," he told Casey, and Casey followed him out of the park.

"How-" Casey started, his mind having trouble grasping the magnitude of the information it had just been presented. Thankfully, RJ understood what he was asking.

"It's a temporal paradox," he explained. "If I told you the time and date, then I had to know it. That means that... the RJ you know also met you in the past."

Casey stopped dead in his tracks. His RJ had met him in the past? The notion made his heart race and his head spin. If that was true, why didn't RJ ever say anything?

It was then that he remembered what RJ had told him earlier: "I'm starting to think you're supposed to be here."

RJ was quiet when they returned to his apartment. He told Casey he would try to get the device to confirm the time, and retreated to him room.

Casey resumed his work on the chair, and as he methodically took the chair apart, he replayed the events of the past two days in his head, making a mental tally of all the things he had learned about RJ and his own time.

Casey finished repairing the chair's lever, and then put the chair back together. He eyed its tattered upholstery, but took a seat in it anyway. He leaned back, and the chair reclined with him. Proud of his work, he pulled the lever on the side to return the chair to an upright position.

Casey stood and stretched. He knocked on RJ's doorframe and poked he head inside his room. RJ turned at the sound. He was sitting at his desk. The device sat in front of him, one of its panels open revealing the circuitry inside. "What's up?" he asked, more cheerful than Casey was expecting.

"I fixed your chair," he announced.

RJ was on his feet in no time. He rushed past Casey into the living room and took a seat in the chair to try it out. His test drive was successful, and RJ looked up at Casey and grinned. "Thanks so much!" he said, and then pointed at him with both hands. "You, my friend, rock!"

Casey chuckled to himself in amusement.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Casey asked.

"Shoot," RJ said.

"Yesterday, when I mentioned you had the wolf spirit, you were surprised. Why?"

RJ looked away. "I thought you were working for my father," he admitted. "I don't think my father knows about the wolf yet, or that I'm a master. I asked Master Mao not to tell him."

Apparently, RJ was keeping it a secret. "Why don't you want your father to know?" Wouldn't RJ want to prove to his father that he was able to find his own path?

RJ laughed to himself, but it sounded hollow. "I want him to be the last to know," he admitted.

Casey thought about telling RJ that he would eventually repair his relationship with his father, but decided against it. The RJ of his time had been shocked when that had happened, so clearly Casey had not told him. Instead, he found himself moving to stand behind the chair. He placed his hands on RJ's shoulders and RJ tensed.

"Don't tell me," RJ said, his tone lighter than it was a moment ago. "You're good as back massages too."

Casey dug his fingers and thumbs into RJ's shoulder blades in response. The RJ Casey knew relaxed when he gave him a massage, and Casey hoped this RJ would react the same way. He did, leaning into Casey's touch reflexively.

He twisted in his chair to face Casey and said, "Please tell me you do this in the future."

Casey rolled his eyes. "As a matter of fact, it's the first thing you ask me to do."

RJ stood and rubbed his neck. "For good reason!" he declared, and then he smirked. RJ seemed to consider him for a moment. Then he yawned, told Casey, "thank you", and wandered back to his room.

Casey realized he was supposed to follow, but noticing how tired he was, he decided to set up his bedding first. He pushed the chair over a foot and closed the curtain before retrieving the futon and its accompanying linens. When they were laid out on the floor, he rolled onto his back onto top of them and considered the ceiling.

He was in the past. The idea still hadn't lost its novelty.

The next thing Casey knew, it was dark and he recognized that he must have fallen asleep. When he tried to sit up, he was surprised to discover that he was nestled in-between the covers. He let his head fall back onto his pillow and smiled. RJ must have tucked him in.

He turned his head towards RJ's door and noticed a soft golden light coming through from underneath the door. Casey had no idea what time it was, but he knew it was late and wondered why RJ was still up.

He brought himself to his feet and knocked twice on RJ's door before opening it. RJ was sitting at his desk. The only light in the room came from a lamp on the desk. Although the device rest on its surface, RJ was staring at the far wall. Without turning his head, RJ asked, "Trouble sleeping?"

Casey rubbed at his eyes. "I should be the one asking you that."

RJ turned to face him. "I have a lot on my mind," he admitted.

Casey entered the room. Still not quite awake, he lay down on RJ's futon and curled onto his side so he could maintain eye contact. "Any luck with the device?" he asked.

"I've tried everything I could think of, but I can't get a better reading. If you want, we can spend all day tomorrow at the park just in case."

Casey chuckled into the futon. "It's okay. I trust you." If RJ told him a portal was going to appear at 9:23pm, then a portal was going to appear at 9:23pm.

"It's strange," RJ said, offering him a smile. "It seems I trust you too." Casey automatically offered RJ a smile of his own.

"I told you about my father," RJ continued, furrowing his eyebrows as if this idea was incomprehensible. Then he stood, crossed the room, and sat down on his knees in front of Casey. Casey looked up at him, and RJ slowly ran a hand through Casey's hair.

It was then that RJ asked, "In the future, are we together?"

Casey froze. He knew what RJ was asking him and he felt like he was suddenly plunged into cold water. He was instantly wide awake.

RJ took Casey's silence as an answer and retracted his hand. "We're not, are we?"

Part of Casey wanted RJ to know about the whirlwind of feelings RJ conjured within his chest, but he closed his eyes and answered truthfully. "No."

He had forgotten that RJ often understood him better than he understood himself. "But you want us to be."

Casey had no idea how to respond to that.

"What's stopping you?" RJ prompted, lying down on his side facing Casey.

Casey gave the question the consideration it deserved. RJ spent more time with him than anyone else. When Casey had trained under his father, RJ had admitted that he feared losing Casey, when he hadn't expressed a similar fear about Lily and Theo. When Whiger stole Casey's powers, RJ had admitted Casey was his weakness.

RJ sent him signals all the time, but whenever Casey thought he was going to make a move, nothing happened.

"You..." Casey started, not sure how to finish.

"I what?" RJ asked, and Casey realized just how close they were. "Don't tell me it's me," he said with a frown.

Casey felt a tightening in his chest. He didn't know why RJ kept his distance, but he had an educated guess. "You're my master."

RJ smirked mischievously and shifted closer to Casey. "I'm not your master yet," he said, and kissed Casey on the forehead. It was simple a gentle brush of lips, but it left Casey feeling like he was floating.

"Maybe I'm just waiting," RJ said, inching even closer. He put an arm around Casey and pulled him close. Casey mimicked the action, his own hand falling across RJ's side.

Casey ended up with his face buried in RJ's shoulder, his arms around him. He held on tight as he listened to RJ's heartbeat and the soft sound of his breathing. As he drifted to sleep, he realized that besides warmth, what he was feeling was fear. He feared that this would be the last time he'd be with RJ like this. He could hear a clock counting down in his head, and knew that in less than twenty-four hours, he'd be gone.


	3. PART III

**Something About Butterflies and Temporal Paradoxes**

**Part III**

When Casey awoke, RJ wasn't next to him. For a moment, Casey thought the events from the night before were nothing but a dream, but his momentary panic subsided when he realized he was sleeping in RJ's room. He curled up into the covers, enjoying the warmth for a while longer, before finally getting up.

RJ was training in the living room, and Casey stood in RJ's doorway to watch. Casey instantly recognized his kata as the one he had been practicing the morning before. Casey also noticed that RJ must have put his bedding away, because the living area was clear. He caught RJ's eye, but RJ continued his kata perfectly.

When it came to an end, Casey was tempted to ask RJ to spar. He wanted to see how he would fare, but he knew he'd have difficulty keeping the shark technique out of his moves, and he didn't want RJ to know he trained with his father.

"Waffles!" RJ suddenly exclaimed, tearing him away from his thoughts.

"Huh?"

RJ led Casey to the kitchen and with a grin, extending an arm to bring Casey's attention to the table. "On today's menu we have waffles with strawberries and maple syrup!"

Casey smiled as he took a seat. Breakfast looked good. Really good. He grabbed a few waffles for himself and then offered the plate to RJ.

"No bad day can start with waffles," RJ explained and the way he grinned drowned out the implications of his words. It was as if RJ actually believed that waffles could make everything better.

Casey took a bite and had to admit that maybe RJ was on to something. He made a note to himself to ask RJ to make waffles in the future.

They took turns in the shower. RJ left Casey another change of clothing, though the t-shirt this time was purple.

When Casey finished in the bathroom, RJ was mediating. He sat on the floor with his legs crossed, the backs of his hands resting against his knees. Without opening his eyes, RJ asked, "Are you ready to go?"

Casey nodded, but realizing RJ couldn't see him, replied, "I am."

There was something about the exchange that hinted finality and that bothered Casey. But a moment later, RJ was on his feet and rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Let's go find some TVs," he said, brushing past Casey on the way to the door.

Casey followed RJ through the neighborhood. A couple of blocks from his apartment, RJ explained, "Garbage collection is in the late afternoon so this is the best time to look for junk."

"Are you looking for anything else besides TVs?" Casey asked, but RJ was distracted by something shiny and abruptly turned into an alley.

Casey immediately spotted what held RJ's attention. A television lay on top of a garbage bag next to a dumpster. As they approached it and Casey got his first whiff of the dumpster, Casey wished "TV hunting" didn't involve being around so much garbage.

The television was heavier than it looked, so they took turns carrying it back to RJ's apartment. When it was Casey's turn with the load, he admitted, "I will never understand your fascination with junk."

RJ shrugged. "I just don't like waste."

Casey put this television down in the living area next to the first set. As he shook out his arms to return feeling to them, RJ asked him, "Are you allergic to peanut butter?"

"Nope," he answered. He watched RJ take a jar of peanut butter down from a shelf, before poking at the back of the television they had just retrieved. The plastic was cracked and through it he noticed a potential issue. "RJ," he called. "Can I borrow some of the tools from your desk?"

"Go for it." RJ flashed him a thumbs up sign and disappeared behind the refrigerator door.

The television was old. Careful, as to avoid any potential electric shock, Casey opened it up. He poked at it for a minute until RJ called, "Lunch is served! I know PB and J isn't the most glamorous meal, but it's one of my favorites."

When Casey took a seat at the table, RJ told him, "It looks like you're making progress on the television. You seem to have a knack for fixing things."

Casey thought about the temporal portal detecting device RJ was working with and shook his head. "Nah. I just know how to fix the kinda stuff you find around the house." He finished a sandwich before explaining, "As a kid I liked talking things apart to see how they worked."

The corners of RJ's mouth quirked upwards at that. "I used to do the same thing," he admitted. "It used to drive my mother crazy."

Casey blinked. RJ had never mentioned his mother before.

"What was your mother like?" he asked carefully, not sure if it was appropriate to inquire about her.

"Oh, uh." RJ paused in thought for a long moment as if reliving a memory and Casey realized that there was no way for RJ to accurately answer the question with a simple statement. He was surprised when RJ tried anyway. "She was one of the most caring, and thus one of the strongest people I've ever known." He looked towards the window and his expression closed up. "She died in a car crash when I was just a kid."

"I'm sorry," Casey said automatically.

RJ's eyes flickered to his. "Don't be." He smiled, slow and kind. "She wouldn't want you to be."

Casey didn't know much about her, but he could sense RJ's affection. He felt something warm in his chest. "It sounds like she was an amazing woman."

RJ's smile grew. "She was."

They finished their meal in silence. If it wasn't such a comfortable silence, Casey would have been tempted to break it. Instead, Casey found himself wondering what RJ's childhood was like. He spoke of his mother with a familial affection that was almost entirely absent when he spoke of his father. He made a mental note to ask RJ about her again when he got back.

After lunch, they resumed their "TV hunting". Between the two of them, they managed to locate and haul back three more television sets before the garbage trucks showed up. RJ stood in his living room and examined his new electronics. Some of them were in better shape than others.

"I'll need a few more," RJ told him, "but these will do fine for now."

"How is this surveillance system going to work exactly?" Casey asked.

RJ seemed surprised he didn't already know, but answered anyway. "Besides the standard satellite imagining and scans, it's going to tap into surveillance systems around the city. A program will scan for anything out of the ordinary, like evidence of strange energy signatures, explosions or mass panic."

Casey had always wondered how it worked. "So you're not going to install any cameras?"

"No need. From banks to buses, this city is already wired. I'm just going to have a program scan the existing infrastructure." He grinned and rubbed his hands together. "But more importantly, I'm going to have to hook this baby up to cable."

Casey hid a smile behind his hand.

"What?" RJ wanted to know. "I haven't been able to watch my favorite shows for years. I have a lot of quality programming to catch up on."

Casey shook his head. RJ was so weird. How many other Pai Zhua masters watched reality television religiously?

Casey settled in front of the television set he was working on earlier. He found paper clip on RJ's desk and used it to hold some of the circuitry together. It was a crude repair, but the television still turned on when he plugged it in. The static on the screen and the sound of it through the speakers got RJ's attention. "Bravo, amigo," he said, approvingly.

Casey explained, "I can fix anything with a rubber band and some paper clips."

"I don't doubt it," RJ said affectionately and gestured at a television sitting on the ground to his right. "Why don't you try your luck with this one while I make us dinner?"

Casey wasn't about to object to the offer of free food prepared by RJ, so he grabbed the tools around him and slide along the floor to the other television. He found himself watching RJ out of the corner of his eye as he cooked.

Dinner was a pasta dish that Casey recognized as one of the few pasta options on JKP's menu. RJ twirled the spaghetti around his fork with great flourish. "You like it?" he asked with a grin.

Casey gestured towards his dish with his fork and told RJ, "I'm going to get you to cook for me more often." He left out the "when I get back", but they both heard it, unspoken though it was. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he asked, "Where did you learn to cook?"

"I taught myself through trial and error," RJ answered easily. "Cooking is one of my hobbies."

"You have a lot of hobbies." Casey ticked them off in his head: RJ was a junk collector and fixer-upper, a Pai Zhua master, a cook, and who knows what else.

"I never thought of it that way," RJ admitted.

Casey helped RJ clean up the kitchen, and then the two of them went back to work on the televisions. RJ poked at the one he had gotten from his neighbor as Casey fiddled with the one RJ was working on earlier. Casey found it hard to concentrate. He was hyper aware that their time together was running out.

RJ must have noticed that he was fiddling with the same part for some time, because he came up behind Casey and asked, "You okay?"

He wasn't, but he looked up and nodded.

When he shifted his attention back to the television set, he felt RJ's hands on his shoulders. He tensed automatically, and RJ sat down behind him. RJ moved his hands up Casey's neck and dug the pads of his fingers into the muscles he found there.

RJ was giving him a massage, his callused hands pressing against Casey's skin. This had never happened before, but Casey decided that he liked it and leaned back into his hands.

He closed his eyes and let RJ's hands explore his body, his touch moving from his neck down to his back and up again. Somehow RJ had the power to put him at ease.

Casey heard RJ shift behind him just before he felt RJ place a small kiss on the skin just above his collar. A familiar warmth expanded in Casey's chest as RJ wrapped his arms around his shoulders, bringing their bodies into contact. Casey leaned back until his head rested against RJ's clavicle. Like the night before, he felt weightless. Neither of them moved and Casey suddenly understood what was happening - that this was RJ's way of savoring what little time they had left.

Casey tried not to pay attention to RJ's watch out of the corner of his eye, but when the time read 8:30, he tugged gently on RJ's arm and RJ released him without protest. Silently, Casey went to the bathroom and changed back into the clothing he had been wearing when he had arrived. He folded the outfit RJ had lent him into a neat pile, and as he held it out to him, he said, "Thank you."

RJ's lips quirked up at the corners as he accepted the clothing. "I keep thinking I should be the one thanking you."

They walked to the park in silence. RJ hovered close to his side and Casey tried not to think about the fact that in a couple of minutes, he would return to his own time.

His mind played through the possible scenarios. What if RJ was wrong? What if they missed the portal? Would he have to build a new life in the past? Part of him wanted to stay with RJ like this, but at the same time, he knew he had to go back. He had his duty as a ranger.

As they made their way to the spot where Casey had found himself less than three days prior, the temperature dropped and RJ said, "It's time."

Casey expected the portal to look like the visible energy of the blast that brought him to the past. Instead, it seemed to be comprised of an invisible energy Casey could feel rather than see. It chilled him, and he wondered if it was in fact the cold that was responsible for the goosebumps he felt forming on his arms.

RJ pulled him into a warm hug. He held onto Casey for a long moment, and when Casey squeezed back, RJ said, "I'm glad I got to meet you."

When RJ let go and pulled back, Casey felt a burst of courage and leaned in to brush his lips against RJ's temple. "Me too," he said, and promptly turned away. He tried to make a run for the portal, but RJ caught his arm just above the elbow and swung him around so they were facing each other again. He pulled Casey forward and crashed their lips together.

Casey froze in shock, and before he knew it, the kiss was over. As he gaped at RJ, still a bit breathless, RJ squeezed his arm in a silent goodbye - a silent promise. Then he pushed Casey backwards though the portal.

The air around Casey grew cold, and as he felt himself starting to fade away, he met RJ's gaze. RJ smiled and said, "See you in a second."

RJ's words sunk in as an intense heat shot through Casey's body. He couldn't see and he couldn't breathe. He felt like very fiber of his existence was being unraveled by the high temperature. Then it was over and Casey found himself flat on his back looking up at a starlit sky. He raised himself up on his elbows and realized he was in a now familiar part of the park.

Backlit by streetlights, someone came forward and knelt in front of him. Casey's breath caught in his throat when he realized it was RJ. He wore his purple training uniform and a morpher on his wrist.

For a moment, he felt completely overwhelmed by emotion, but then RJ smiled at him, and everything started to make sense again. He searched RJ's eyes and was relieved when they were familiar. Casey knew he was home.

RJ offered Casey a hand, and when he accepted it, RJ told him, "I've been waiting for you. Welcome home."


End file.
